Automobile-horn and means for operating the same.



PATENTED OUT. 24, 1905.

. G. FOSTER. AUTOMOBILE HORN AND MEANEa FOR ()PERATING THE SAME.

APPLIUATION FILED DEO.16, 190%.

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CLAUD H. FOSTER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

AUTOMOBILE-HORN AND MEANS FOR OPERATING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24:, 1905.

Application filed December 16, 1904- $erial1l'o. 237,059.

To all whom it may conceive:

Be it known that I, CLAUD H. FosTER, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement in Automobile-Horns and Means for Operating the Same. of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to fluid-pressure horns and to means for operating the same, and has 1 for its object the construction of a horn which may be operated by low pressure, which Will produce a musical sound, and the pitch of which will remain substantially constant in spite of wide variations in the pressure and quantity of the operating fluid and to combine said born with suitable means for supplying pressure fluid thereto. A horn having these characteristics is admirably adapted for employment with automobiles, and particularly with automobiles which are operated by explosive-engines.

Generally speaking, the invention may be delined as con. 'sting of the combinations of elements em lied in the claims hereto annexed.

Referring t t he drawings, Figure 1 represents a dia rammatic view showing the manner in which horns built in accordance with my invention are connected to the exhaust-pipe and muliler of an explosive-engine, the pipe and muifler being enlarged for the purpose of showing more clearly the valve by which the exhaust may be diverted from the pipe and muifler into the pipe leading into the horns. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of a form of valve which I employ in the pipe leading to the horns. Fig. 3 represents a bottom plan view of the valve and easing, the handle of the valve being omitted. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged detail in plan of the horn which I employ, and Fig. 5 represents an enlarged sectional detail of the horn.

.l)escribing the parts by reference characters, 1 represents the exhaust-pipe leading from an explosive-engine, said pipe commui'iicating with a muflier 2 of any desired type. A pipe 3 is connected with the exhaust-pipe 1. and leads to one or more horns I. Where a plurality of horns is employed, their relative pitches are such as to produce a chord or chime when sounded together.

In the pipe 3 I lit a valve 5. In order to accurately control the passage of the exhaust through the pipe 8, I make this valve preferably as shown in Figs. 2 and 8. The valvebody consists of a cylindrical disk 6, having a wide slot 7 extending therethrough. This valve-body fits within a similar cylindrical casing 8, fitted in the pipe 3. By reason of the width of the slot 7 the opening and closing of the valve is slow compared with the movement of the same, and the flow of exhaust fluid through the same may be accurately controlled to admit as small a quantity of such fluid to the horn or horns as may be desirable.

The pressure in the pipe 1 is due to the back pressure produced by the mufiler, and the minimum amount of such pressure is seldom under live pounds. In order to divert more or less of the exhaust into the pipe 3, I provide a valve 9, pivoted at the junction oi. the pipes 1 and 3 and between the pipe 3 and the muflier. This valve is operated by means ol a lever 10 and may entirely close the pipe 3, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, or may open the inlet to the same more or less to divert more or less of the exhaust into such pipe. When opened to its full extent it closes com munication between the exhaust and the mutfler, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,. The stop 11 may be provided to engage the edge of the valve when in position to close communication between the exhaust and the mailfler.

The horn, which I operate by the engineexhaust, is admirably adapted for the wide ranges of quantity and prcssu re of the exhaust fluid of explosive-engines, such as the ordinary gasolene-engines of automobiles. It consists of an enlarged body portion 12, having one end open and the other end contracted and closed .by a head 13. This head is provided with an opening 14 for connection with the pipe 8. A partition 15, spaced a short distance from the head 13, forms therewith a shallow chamber 16. The upper end of the partition 15 extends in close proximity to the upper widened surface 17 of the horn. Immediately above the partition 15 the horn is provided with an opening 18. The pressure fluid passing over the edge of the partition 15 and through the slot between the same and the plate 17 sounds the horn. In order to prevent the pitch of the horn from changing by variations in the pressure of the exhaust fluid supplied thereto, 1 place above the edge 19 of the plate 17 a cross member 20. This member may be a tube, as shown in Fig. 5. Its effect is to maintain a constant pitch in the horn irrespective of the variations in pressure of the exhaust fluid supplied thereto. An inclined plate 21 extends from the slot 18 to the body of the horn.

The provision of the shallow chamber 16 admirably adapts the horn for application to explosive-engines of various sizes, as the horn will give a loud musical tone when the exhaust from a very small engine is directed into said chamber, the shallowness of the chamber preventing the dissipation of the small discharge from such an engine before it may be directed against the lip 22. The provision of the cross member 20 maintainsa substantially constant pitch in the tone of the horn, thereby permitting horns of a standard type to be applied to engines of widely-varying sizes and with widely-varying exhaust-pressures with the certainty that said horns will produce a musical sound wherever they may be placed.

Moreover, the pressure of the fluid supplied to a horn will frequently vary widely, owing to the operator swinging the valve 9 a greater or less distance across the exhaust-pipe, as well as the varying quantity of the explosive mixture admitted to the engine. Such variations, however, will not vary the pitch or the musical character of the sound produced by the horn.

By the construction hereinbefore described I am able to operate the horn or horns by the back pressure produced in the exhaust-pipe of an explosive-engine by connecting said pipe with an ordinary muflier. I am also enabled to readily and accurately control the pressure applied to the horns and to maintain a constant pitch in said horns. This pressure may vary as greatly as several pounds to the square inch without changing the pitch of the horn. Moreover, the shallowness of the chamber 16 and the fact that the area of the slot between the upper edge of the partition 15 and the adjacent flat surface 17 is less than that of the inlet connection 14 prevents the exhaust from a small engine or a small supply of the exhaust from a large engine from being dissipated githin such chamber without operating the orn.

While I have described my invention in detail, 1 do not propose to be limited to such details, except as the same may be included in the claims or may be rendered necessary by the "prior state of the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the exhaust of an engine, of a horn provided with means for operating the same with fluid under low pressure and means for maintaining a constant pitch irrespective of a variation of several pounds to the square inch in the pressure of the operating fluid, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the exhaust-pipe of an explosive-engine, of a horn provided with means for operating the same with fluid under loW pressure and means for maintaining a constant pitch irrespective of a variation of several pounds to the square inch in the pressure of the operating fluid, a connection between said exhaust-pipe and said horn, and a valve governing the supply of the exhaust fluid to the horn and adapted to direct more or less of such fluid to said horn, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the exhaust of an explosive-engine, of a horn provided with means for operating the same with a fluid of varying pressure, said horn being provided with means for maintaining a constant pitch irrespective of a variation of several pounds to the square inch in the pressure of such fluid, substantially as specified.

1. The combination, with the exhaust of an explosive-engine, of a horn provided with means for operating the same with a fluid varying in pressure to the extent of several pounds to the square inch, said horn being provided with means whereby it may be operated by widely-varying quantities of the exhaust fluid without changing the pitch, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a fluidg; *essure horn provided with means for operating the same with a fluid of varying pressure, said horn being also provided with means formaintaining a constant pitch irrespective of a variation of several pounds to the square inch in the pressure of such fluid, and means for supplying pressure fluid to said horn, substantially as specified.

6. The combination, with the exhaust of an engine, of a horn consisting of an open-ended pipe having means for preventing the pitch from varying through variations of several pounds to the square inch in the pressure of the fluid supplied thereto, substantially as specified.

7. The combination of a fluid-pressure horn consisting of an open-ended pipe having means for preventing the pitch from varying through variations of several pounds to the square inch in the pressure of the operating fluid, and means for supplying such fluid to said horn, substantially as specified.

8. The combination of a fluid-pressure horn,

means on said horn for maintaining a con- 9. The combination of an engine exhaustplpe, a horn therefor, a connection between said horn and said exhaust-pipe, a valveat the junction of said pipe and connection and adapted to directa portion or the Whole of the exhaust fluid into the connection, and means on said horn for maintaining a constant pitch thereof irrespective of the extent to which the 

